Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall

There are some gems here

Stony | Pittsburgh, PA United States | 10/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This a two-cd set, and despite the fact that the title makes you think it's all Ella, it's not. She sings a number or two at the beginning and then comes back for the second set of the evening. The rest of Disk 1 is a recreation of the Chick Webb band (where Ella got her start) and has some good moments. Disk 2 contains most of Ella's songs. Carmen MacRae gives Ella a warm introduction, and you can tell that they respected one another. There are some contemporary and pop songs that I enjoyed ("What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye, for example) but that I can understand that a jazz purist would dislike. For me the reason to get this is her interpretation of "Good Morning Heartache." It's fabulous. I personally think it is as good as Billie's. It's much more musical than Billie's version, and yet Ella also brings out the ache and longing of the words. She is really passionate here, and the audience goes crazy at the end. I would have too, had I been there. Her performance is great. Ella sang this song in the studio in the early sixties, but this live version is by far the better. Her version of "Down in the Depths" here is quite good too. And she sings the Streisand standard "People" with an honesty, simplicity, and purity that would totally elude Barbra. If you love Ella, as I do, then I would tell you to buy this."

Very nice overview of her career

Rick Cornell | 02/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This two-disk set catches Ella at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival (in New York City) and offers a nice overview of her career. The event was billed as a tribute of sorts and fortunately the singer in very good voice right at the start of her Pablo years. The first disk features some big band sides by a reconstituted Chick Webb Orchestra and includes the inevitable "A-Tisket-A-Tasket." Ella reprises her duets with pianist Ellis Larkins on three tunes. The second disk is a typical Fitzgerald set with the Tommy Flanagan Quartet from this period of her career. Despite a couple of questionable tunes ("I Gotta Be Me" and "What's Going On"), Ella is in very good form throughout, especially on three duets with guitarist Joe Pass and when she goes away from the prepared playlist with "Any Old Blues." The highlight for jazz fans is the scat feature on "Lemon Drop." The adoring crowd welcomes Ella back for encores on "Some of These Days" and "People." The voice may wobble in spots, but the occasion and the obvious public affection for the First Lady of Song make the set an essential introduction to the later stage of her career."

A relatively little-known Fitzgerald treasure

montecastello | Dardanelle, Arkansas United States | 07/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These live duets with Joe Pass and, even more wonderful, with Ellis Larkins are for me among the highlights of Ella's amazing career. The subtlety, imagination, and ease of these performances have stayed in my mind for over twenty years. Not everything on these discs is up to this standard, though the sleepy, sensual phrasing of INDIAN SUMMER, glowing with pleasure, is pretty amazing too."